Submitted photo“The Wind Rises” tells the tale of a young Japanese airplane designer during World War II.

“SON OF GOD”

Rating: PG-13 for intense and bloody depiction of the Crucifixion, and for some sequences of violence

What it’s about: Jesus of Nazareth gathers disciples, preaches the Gospel, runs afoul of the rich and powerful in this version of the Life of Christ.

The kid attractor factor: A familiar story told with a generally upbeat tone.

Good lessons / bad lessons: Be humble, ethical and honest, comfort the poor and afflicted, lead by example.

Violence: If there’s a more awful way of killing something than crucifixion, mankind has yet to invent it.

Language: Profanity hadn’t been invented yet.

Sex: None.

Drugs: Wine.

Parents’ advisory: Essentially a cut-and-paste job from the TV series “The Bible,” suitable for kids old enough to have celebrated Easter and understand what it’s about. OK for 10-and-up.

“THE WIND RISES”

Rating: PG-13 for some disturbing images and smoking

What it’s about: A young Japanese airplane designer makes his aviation dreams come true and sees his designs used to take Japan into World War II.

The kid attractor factor: Anime from the master, Hiyao Miyazaki, with flights of fancy mixed in with fictionalized history.

Good lessons / bad lessons: Sometimes your dreams get hijacked by the military.

Violence: A deadly earthquake, but World War II is mostly kept off camera.

Language: Quite clean.

Sex: Courtship and flirting.

Drugs: Cigarettes, wine.

Parents’ advisory: History, even fictionalized animated Japanese history, is a hard sell to kids, but there’s enough fantasy here to keep kids over age 8 entertained.